Saturday, August 16, 2014

Our 24 Hour Date

On Thursday it was my 36th birthday and to celebrate we had many things planned!  Back in the beginning of July, I won Fort Langley's Ultimate Dream Date so we decided to do it all on my birthday.  Unfortunately the helicopter ride has to take place on a different day but we were able to do a lot of other things.  We dropped all three kids off at Gary's parents around noon and we were off for 24 hours of fun.  

We started at the spa for a couple's massage.  Gary and I have had one before...on our honeymoon 9 years ago!  This was probably the highlight of the day.  We were so relaxed and probably could have taken a nap there in that room. We will definitely do this again to celebrate something special. 

Then, we went to Lelam Cafe in Fort Langley for lunch.  I have never been there but we will go back here (well, we have half of our gift card left so that's another reason to go!).  I would recommend it and likely next time we will go for breakfast.  


I'm delivering a Double Chocolate Boston Creme Cupcake to Gary. I've been eating very low amounts of sugar for the past 3 weeks so only  had a taste.  I had Butternut Squash soup and Gary had a Meatball Sandwich.  They had way more fun things to try but I wasn't that hungry.


Then, we went for a walk to check out the flower shop and chocolate store.  We didn't actually buy anything there yet so we'll save those for later.  We're going to let the kids each choose something fun from the chocolate/candy store.  

We walked a few of the trails in Fort Langley that we haven't been on yet.  Here Gary said, `I want to take a picture of us holding hands for my blog.'  He doesn't have a blog by the way.  He's funny like that.


Next we headed to the Fort Wine Co for a wine tasting and tour.  We tasted 10 wines and got to pick one to take home (I took home the apple/pear table wine).    


Then we got changed to get ready for our dinner date at Eighteen 27.  Our reservation was at 6pm but we were ready by 4:30pm so we decided to eat early as we had such a small lunch. 


We were the only ones in the restaurant the whole time which we loved!  They changed their menu 8 months ago so now it's all tapas.


We shared 4 different ones.   Above is the Crispy Risoto Gary got.  I loved the Short Ribs Wellington below.  We also shared a Chocolate Lava Cake for dessert.  Would we go back? Yes.  Would we get the Beef Kabobs again. No.  Would we get the Tuna and Short Ribs Wellington and Lava Cake again? Yes.


Then, the less glamorous part of our 24 hours....we went home and worked for 4 hours editing photos and fun stuff like that.

The next part of our 24 hours of freedom was that we got up at 5:15 am to head to Garibaldi Park.  We started hiking at 7:30am and made it to the lake by 10:30am.  The suggested time is 3.5 hours so this old lady is still under the recommended time. Phew.  


Unfortunately it was super foggy so we couldn't see the gorgeous mountains or the glacier.  The plus side was that it wasn't hot.  If you've never done Garibaldi Lake (or Black Tusk), the first 2 hours (6 km) are switchbacks and quite the work out.  


We stopped and ate some food which I probably should have done 2 km 's earlier.  We relaxed for half an hour and then it was time to head back through Taylor Meadows.  I was hoping that all of the wild flowers would be in bloom but they weren't.  Oh well. 



I've done Black Tusk twice but I've never done Garibaldi Lake.  I'm glad we tried something new!  The last time I hiked it was over 10 years ago...it sure is a lot harder with 10 years and 10 extra pounds on! 


The final 6 km (switchbacks down) hurt my knees so badly.  I truly am getting older.  I don't mind pain but I don't want to damage my joints.  So, next time, no hike ending on 2 hours of downhill.

Very thankful for grandparents that could watch the kids for 24 hours.  I know they aren't the easiest kids and that's why it was so nice to have a break from them!  Seriously, so great to just focus on Gary and I.  Yay, glad we like to be together :) 

Gary's favourite part: The Massage For 2.
Louise's favourite part: No kids (is that bad?!) and the Massage For 2. 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Love, 
Louise

PS  When Nya saw me, she gave me the hugest hug full of giggles and laughter.  She gave me a big squeeze saying, `Mommy! Mommy! I love you!'.  Then she pulled back and looked in my eyes and said, `SO MUCH!'.  She's so cute.

Here's a one minute video for a taste of the hike. Thank you, Gary!




9 comments:

  1. Fun, fun!! That lake is so blue...looks like worth the hike just to see water like that! One day, maybe one day for this old gal!

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  2. Don't you look all cute dressed up for the hubs? Nice work putting your marriage first - I'm seriously looking forward to spending some time in the next year enjoying Joel's company and this just reminds me how important it is to actually go on dates that we keep saying we should go on. I detest the switchbacks on that mountain. I'm sure the 2 hours would be extremely un-fun for Joel if we went together but the rest is pretty awesome.

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  3. So wonderful. Me thinks my hubby and I need a 24 hour date soon. It's been 2 years since we had one (being a baby-year and all...)

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  4. Awesome! You look great, by the way!

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  5. Kristin McNair11:07 AM

    Sounds like a really great 24 hours, especially the hike! I hear you on the knee pain. With so many coastal hikes around here, a good pair of hiking poles have really saved my life.

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  6. Yummy food, a massage, and a fun hike?! Sounds wonderful!

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  7. What a wonderful way to spend your birthday! Looks like fun.

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  8. sooooooo awesome! love love LOVE this!!!!

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  9. This post makes me want to go away! Tell Gary I'll be his number one blog fan ;)

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